Sometimes Bombs Fall Quietly
by amaltheaz
Summary: Clint and Natasha are leaving for Tibet after the Battle of New York for a little R and R. But first, Clint has to make a stop to see an old friend. And Natasha makes a new one.


Author's Note: Set after the events in The Avengers

* * *

They had been on the road for about half an hour, on their way to one of S.H.I.E.L.D's secret airfields when she noticed that Clint turned right when he should have gone left. They hadn't really uttered a word since they parted ways with the rest of the Avengers and really, that was always their way after a mission. They took their time to retreat inside themselves to deconstruct everything that had happened and what they needed to do to improve for the next time. Though Clint would usually at least say something to warn her if he was going to change course, he didn't say anything even after doing so and Natasha was beginning to wonder if maybe he was lost and didn't want to ask.

It wouldn't have been the first time.

"You do know how to get where we're supposed to go, right?"

He glanced back at her, his eyes narrowed into a mild glare because what exactly was she trying to insinuate?

"Remember the last time you couldn't find where we were going but you were too stubborn to tell me and then we wound up-"

"- arrested and locked up in a Bangkok prison. I remember, Tasha. I only got us lost one time. _One_ time!"

"Well, we're supposed to be making our way out of New York and this does not look like we're anywhere close to heading out."

"I am not _lost_. There's a stop that I have to make."

He didn't have to look at her to know exactly what expression was plastered on her face. It wasn't hard to picture those pursed full lips and that goddamn arching eyebrow. Natasha might be a master at deception but they had known each other long enough for him to be able to figure out exactly what she was thinking.

"And what, you expect me to hitchhike all the way to the airfield?"

"Don't be stupid. I would have gotten you a cab first."

Though he expected the punch on his arm, he always seemed to forget just how much Natasha could pack in them.

"We're _supposed_ to be laying low, genius."

Her reproach was light so he knew that she didn't mind too much that they were making a spontaneous detour. She had always been good at going with the flow.

Where they were going was most likely a bad idea and could be one of the stupidest things to do, especially right now, but he knew that this was something he had to do. He _needed_ to do it.

For Phil.

Sometime today, Audrey Nathan would be getting a call from Director Fury, letting her know.

Clint supposed that maybe Melinda could just find out for herself. Agent Phil Coulson was a highly respected Level 8 agent in S.H.I.E.L.D after all, and the grapevine would be buzzing with the news of his death. And he had no doubt that Fury would tell her himself. Plus, it would really also be the smarter thing to do. And it would hurt so much less.

But then again, he hadn't exactly always been one to do the smarter thing. Every decision he ever made was always based on his gut, his instinct. While some of them were not exactly the most brilliant of ideas and were just plain disasters; looking at Natasha, sometimes it worked out pretty damn well.

After everything that they had been through together with Phil. The missions, the pranks they pulled together and just, all the time they spent on and off the clock; it meant something to him. It had _always_ meant something to him. In their line of business, he hesitated to use the word too easily but he knew that he and Melinda were friends. He felt a harsh pinch of regret though because he had let that slide, at least where Melinda was concerned. After everything that went down in Bahrain she just seemed... So _different_. Not cold but just distant, to Phil and to him, by extension. Like she disappeared and her body was just an empty shell. He hated to think it but it was just so hard to look at her sometimes because he ached for the Melinda that she was before.

He tried to reach out to her a few times. Go out for drinks, maybe. A sparring session here and there. But after he brought Natasha in, their contact was minimal at best. Clint still heard things from Phil about how she was doing, about how she shouldn't be behind that desk, about how she was meant to be out there with them. It wasn't long after that Phil got busier and the last time that he asked, Phil couldn't really tell him anything.

"I was thinking of going to see Agent May."

Natasha didn't have to ask why. She had done her homework. She had read the post-mission reports where the three agents had worked together. Phil and Clint even sometimes used to talk about the things that happened during missions with Melinda. It wasn't difficult to miss the fondness that both men had for the former field agent. It was a feeling that obviously never went away with time.

The first time Natasha ever heard of Agent Melinda May, also known as The Cavalry, she was still somewhat new to S.H.I.E.L.D. Maybe nearly a year since Clint had brought her in but still new enough that she had so much to learn. There wasn't much she could find out about why Agent May was given such a moniker outside of the regular gossip that ran pretty wild in the agency. She could only gather that it had something to do with Bahrain and even then Natasha was only able to get the bare bones of that particular story.

In the end, she knew that the only way she could get the real story was to go to the source herself. But Natasha wasn't that desperate to know about why "The Cavalry".

But she sure wanted to know more about who the person is behind that name.

"I'm going with you."

Clint didn't bother telling her that she didn't have to come; that it wasn't her problem. But he knew her better. He knew her best, even. So he didn't bother telling her no, and just pressed harder on the gas pedal.


End file.
